What was Gene Hackman's net worth? Career earnings explored as actor is found dead along with wife Betsy Arakawa at home
Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his pianist wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead on Wednesday, February 26, at their residence in the Santa Fe Summit community. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed the same to the Santa Fe New Mexican. The outlet further revealed that the couple died along with their pet dog in the house.
As per reports by The Guardian, the authorities arrived at the residence on Wednesday afternoon to investigate the deaths. It is unclear whether they were present there for a welfare check or were acting upon some kind of reporting. Mendoza stated:
"All I can say is that we’re in the middle of a preliminary death investigation, waiting on approval of a search warrant."
Gene Hackman, who died at the age of 95, had been in the film industry for over four decades. The actor had a net worth of $80 million, as per Celebrity Net Worth. In his career, Gene won over 30 awards, including two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, and two BAFTAs.
Apart from acting, Gene Hackman was interested in writing too. He published Wake of the Perdido Star, Justice for None, and Escape from Andersonville with undersea archaeologist Daniel Lenihan. In 2004, Gene retired from being an actor but continued writing. In 2011, he released Payback at Morning Peak. His last novel was a police thriller titled Pursuit, and it was published in 2013.
Exploring the career of 95-year-old actor Gene Hackman amid his sudden demise
Gene Hackman was born in January 1930 as Eugene Allen Hackman in San Bernardino, California. His family moved quite a lot, and Gene grew up in Danville, Illinois. At the age of 10, Gene began developing an interest in acting. Before studying acting in the late 1950s, Gene served in the Marines in the late 1940s.
The late actor's big screen debut happened in the 1964 movie Lilith. He also appeared in well-known movies like The French Connection, Mississippi Burning, Unforgiven, The Birdcage, The Quick and the Dead, and The Royal Tenenbaums, to name a few.
Gene Hackman also acted in several TV shows, including The DuPont Show of the Week, Tallahassee 7000, Shadow on the Land, and many others. In 2002, he told The Guardian about his experience while filming I Never Sang for My Father alongside Melvyn Douglas and how he struggled with the father-son dynamics. He said:
"I didn’t think a lot of the project and was taking it very lightly. Then Melvyn Douglas came up to me and said, ‘Gene, you’ll never get what you want with the way you’re acting’ and he didn’t mean acting – he meant that I was not behaving myself. He taught me not to use my reservations as an excuse for not doing the work."
In 1956, Gene tied the knot with Faye Maltese and later had three children together. However, they divorced in 1986. In 1991, Gene Hackman married Betsy Arakawa. Betsy and Gene were living in a home in Santa Fe, which was a 12-acre property.
Prior to that, the actor possessed a 25-acre property in Montecito, which he later sold for $5.5 million in 1985. He also owned a house in Pebble Beach, California, back in 1993. In 2012, the home was reportedly listed for $79 million, as per Celebrity Net Worth.
Authorities have yet to reveal additional details about Gene and Betsy's demise. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, however, clarified that they could not find immediate signs of foul play connected to the deaths. The case is now a developing story.
Fans flooded social media platforms, expressing condolences and paying tributes to the late actor and his wife.
